Hey Dad cast shunned and shut down; told the show must go on.

Who knew?

The Australian sitcom ‘Hey Dad’ ran from 1987 to 1994. It portrayed a single parent family with Robert Hughes playing the part of Martin Kelly, a father raising three children.

While the cast acted the family on camera, behind the scenes Robert Hughes was following his own script. He was a predator, a paedophile and on April 7, was found guilty of 10 charges including intercourse with children. Sentencing is next month.

The youngest cast member was one of his victims; Sarah Monahan was 10 yrs old, and played daughter Jenny Kelly, when assaulted by Hughes. Thanks to the bravery of Sarah Monahan speaking out in 2010, other victims were able to come forward with their own stories.

Below are several links to various media reports, which provide more comprehensive information such as ‘Hey Dad’ cast members being passed over for work opportunities for supporting Sarah Monahan.

— Why not? There were plenty of laws and workplace regulations in place at the time. The show was cancelled in 1994 because of Hughes. What limitations, if any, on statutes?

** Cast actors Ben Oxenbould and Simone Buchanan criticised and passed over for jobs for supporting Sarah Monahan. Ben Oxenbould told directly by Executive Producers that he wasn’t getting a job because of his actions regarding Hughes.

— Starting from the top of the Seven Network and working down, those responsible for ignoring the victim and shutting down the ‘Hey Dad’ cast should take the chair vacated by George Pell (a Cardinal by title) at the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse, in Sydney. I wonder if they would be any less pathetic than Pell, who couldn’t even look at a victim who faced him?

The Catholic Church lost the plot a long time ago when they knowingly put the business of religion before religion. Even the Pope’s apology April 11, sounded like business.

The Seven Network, in the case of Sarah Monahan, appears to have put show business first. I bet there are a few people squirming in their seats following the conviction of Robert Hughes. I hope there are a lot of questions asked of those who knew but did nothing; questions of law in particular. Sounds like a big new broom would be the go.

** The lawyer for Robert Hughes, doing his job I guess, is saying the family of Hughes has suffered four (4) years of vilification from when the allegations became public, also arguing a fair trial wasn’t possible.

— I don’t like to hear something that sounds like a sympathy vote. An appeal will decide on the fairness of the trial. The family of Hughes should be left alone; they can be victims as well.

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